Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2020 Dec;122(7):1271-1275.
doi: 10.1002/jso.26193. Epub 2020 Sep 3.

An observational study of the demographic and treatment changes in a tertiary colorectal cancer center during the COVID-19 pandemic

Barath Raj Kumar  1 , Diwakar Pandey  1 , Jitender Rohila  1 , Ashwin deSouza  1 , Avanish Saklani  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

An observational study of the demographic and treatment changes in a tertiary colorectal cancer center during the COVID-19 pandemic

Barath Raj Kumar et al. J Surg Oncol. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Background and objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in the healthcare infrastructure. While we change our surgical practice, cancer care will take a toll on unprecedented long-term outcomes. We elucidate our experience that has unfolded during this period.

Methods: This study included retrospective data of patients being treated for colorectal cancer and peritoneal surface malignancy between January and May 2020. We compared the treatment changes before and after the national emergency was declared.

Results: There was a 65% decrease in outpatients with a 90% drop in endoscopy procedures. Treatment protocols were changed with a 200% increase in short course radiation in rectal cancer. Colon cancer and anal melanoma were triaged to undergo 'essential' surgery. No robotic or exenteration procedures were performed in April and May. Patients with a low peritoneal cancer index underwent surgery alone. The relative number of emergency surgeries were unchanged.

Conclusion: There is no standard approach to deliver cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Treatment decisions were made based on the state of affairs that COVID-19 had created during that cross-section of time and protocols were redrawn to strike a balance between the risk of death from colorectal cancer and the risk of death from COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; colorectal cancer; peritoneal surface malignancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, et al. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(8):727-733.
    1. [Guidelines] COVID-19 Guidelines for Triage of Colorectal Cancer Patients. https://www.facs.org/COVID-19/clinical-guidance/elective-case/colorectal...
    1. Pramesh CS, Badwe RA. Cancer management in India during COVID-19. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:NEJMc2011595.
    1. acs_triage_and_management_elective_cancer_surgery_during_acute_and_recovery_phases.pdf [Internet]. [cited 2020 May 10]. Available from: https://www.facs.org/-/media/files/COVID19/acs_triage_and_management_ele...
    1. https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/-/media/files/rcs/coronavirus/3rd-update-interc...

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources